Red Wing McDonald’s manager

Julie Holthaus started her career working the fry machine.

Today, she is one of the top McDonald’s managers worldwide.

The manager of the Red Wing McDonald’s recently won the corporation’s Ray Kroc award.

The award, named after McDonald’s founder, is given to top managers in the McDonald’s Corp. Of all the managers in McDonald’s 31,000 restaurants worldwide, only 136 received the coveted award last year.

Holthaus said she was taken aback when she found out she had won the award.

“It’s an honor. It’s the highest award McDonald’s gives to their store managers,” Holthaus said. “So it’s quite a feat to receive the award.”

The key to her success, Holthaus said, is simple.

“It’s liking what you do,” she said. “You have to like what you do.”

She also gives a lot of credit to her staff. She said without a good staff, it doesn’t matter how good the manager is.

Holthaus began working at McDonald’s in 1991. After a short hiatus, she returned to the corporation and worked her way up to manager.

In 2004, she and her husband moved to Red Wing from Rochester and she began overseeing the Red Wing McDonald’s.

As a perk for winning the Ray Croc award, Holthaus and her husband were flown to Chicago for an award ceremony at the House of Blues.

“They treat you like royalty,” she said of the trip.

She also will receive a bonus for winning the award.

Tags: business, mcdonalds